The determination of the frictional characteristics of surfaces has long been and remains critical in many areas of industry, the military etc. A particularly important application of such devices is in the determination of the frictional characteristics of surfaces aboard ships where the movement of personnel over surfaces that may be wet under less than ideal conditions is extremely important and may be the determinant factor in the safety of military personnel.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the arts related to the determination of the frictional characteristics of surfaces, a large number of devices and a great deal of effort has been devoted to the development of improved such devices and no extended discussion of such efforts and the resultant devices is required here. Suffice it to say that numerous such devices have been designed, manufactured and applied to obtain accurate measurements of the frictional characteristics of large surfaces.
In spite of these efforts, there remains a need for further improved such devices, especially as they apply to the aforementioned shipboard surfaces under less than ideal conditions as are routinely encountered by military personnel aboard ships, especially on the decks of, for example, aircraft carriers.